Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

These healthy Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins are one of the best ways to use up zucchini and eat some sneaky veggies. They turn out moist and decadent but are filled with all real food ingredients you can feel good about. Kids and adults love these for breakfast, snack, or dessert.

Ingredients

Here are the stars of this Zucchini Muffin show…

• Cooking spray
• White whole wheat flour – Regular whole wheat flour works but the cake will be a little denser than with white whole wheat flour. The best substitution would be half whole wheat and half all purpose flour.
• Baking soda – For leavening.
• Ground cinnamon and Salt – For seasoning.
• Avocado oil – We love the neutral flavor and high smoke point of avocado oil, but melted, cooled coconut oil would work, too.
• Honey – I haven’t tested this with pure maple syrup but that would be my go-to for a honey replacement. Note: It will alter the flavor some and be a little sweeter than honey. Leave a comment and let me know if you try this.
• Eggs
• Plain Greek yogurt – Nonfat is fine. Use vanilla Greek yogurt if you want to make these even sweeter.
• Vanilla extract
• Finely shredded zucchini – Make sure to squeeze most of the excess moisture out by wringing it in a hand towel or pressing on it in a colander over the sink. This is an important step.
• Mini chocolate chips

How to Make Zucchini Muffins

Find the detailed, printable recipe at the bottom, but here’s an overview of how this recipe goes…

Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. (You can also use paper liners or silicone liners if you’d like, but they will be very full!)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, eggs, Greek yogurt, and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and stir just until it starts to come together (do not stir a lot here). Sprinkle the shredded zucchini and mini chocolate chips over the top. Stir until fully combined, being careful not to overmix. The batter will be thick.

Spoon at least 2 heaping tablespoons of batter into each hole, until each one is filled evenly (they will almost be filled to the top). Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of one comes out mostly clean. Place on a cooling rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes.

Variations and Substitutions

This muffin recipe is fairly forgiving, so feel free to make some of these tweaks if you’d like.

• Dairy-Free Version: Use plain dairy-free milk (like almond milk) and dairy-free chocolate chips like Enjoy Life brand from the health food section.
• Gluten-Free Version: Use gluten-free 1:1 baking flour like Bob’s Red Mill brand in place of the wheat flour.
• Substitute for Honey: I haven’t tested this with pure maple syrup but that would be my go-to for a honey replacement. Note: It will alter the flavor some and be a little sweeter than honey. Leave a comment and let me know if you try this.